On the same day that another House panel approved the smallest NASA budget since 2007, the House Science space subcommittee approved — on a straight party-line vote — a two-year NASA authorization bill that would ban a proposed asteroid capture mission, cut back NASA's Earth science program, and mandate more crewed exploration of lunar space in preparation for an expedition to Mars.

The NASA Authorization Act of 2013, written by the subcommittee’s Republican leadership, passed by a vote of 11 to 9, with no Democrats supporting the proposal and one Republican abstaining. The bill must still be approved by the full House Science, Space and Technology Committee before the House can vote on whether to send the proposal to the Senate.